Remembered
by ChibiEarth
Summary: Dearing blew up the NCIS building and the team is now suffering the consequences. The problem is how can Ziva tell what it is fantasy and reality as she struggles to find what happened to her friend? Originally part of the NFA Season Premiere Challenge that is now inspired by.
1. Prologue

Title: Remembered  
Author: AmberShine/KagomeSMercury  
Character(s): Ziva and McGee centric but also is a "team fic" with everyone.  
Genre: Angst, Romance, Humor, Family/Friendship, Drama  
Rating: FR15

Warnings: Season Nine/Ten Spoilers, Mentions of Possible Major Character Death, "NCIS Ghosts", Possible McGiva, Light "Tate"

Summary: Dearing blew up the NCIS building and the team is now suffering the consequences. The problem is how can Ziva tell what it is fantasy and reality as she struggles to find what happened to her friend?

A/N: This story was originally written as part of the Season Premier Challenge but I kept revising and it kept getting longer and this swayed a lot from an "episode" to something much longer. While I did not need to start another story with others being left untouched on …I couldn't help it. I apologize to Pam (channeld) for not being able to enter this story into her challenge after all.

Edit: This story is now my tribute to channeld since I never got around to submitting it to her challenge on time. This story was not going to be posted up until it was complete at NFA, but I wanted to write something as a tribute for her. Hopefully I can do justice on it.

Thanks everyone!

_Epilogue - Voices_

Darkness. Who knew it could be trapped around her. Was it possible to describe darkness as a heavy weight? Maybe. She had seen many things in her days with Mossad that would be considered dark. Actually, even some of days at NCIS would be considered dark as well.

But this darkness felt…forced upon her. That was one way to describe it. There was no happiness but there was no loneliness either.  
Was she dead? Probably. How else did that explain her being here? There was no other possibility than why she would be in this place either. For if she was still alive, would she not be awake right now next to Tony in the elevator?  
All she knew, however, was that no one here in this dark place.

"David…"

A faint whisper. Wait! There was someone here. She turned her head towards the sound.

"David!" It was louder this time yet at the same time, coming in clear. She ran towards the sound. The darkness still surrounded her but yet here was sound! It had to be possible if she followed the sound, now registering to her as a female voice, she might find her way out of this darkness.

She stopped, panting for breathe.

"David…wake up! DiNozzo needs you to get up! Gibbs needs you. McGee needs your help!"

Flash!

"Who are you?" She called out.

A small laugh. She could almost picture a female smiling.

"Does that matter?"

"Yes! Who are you?"

"If it helps you help Tony…I'm Cailtin Todd…"

x-x

**Note: Updates will happen as they happen.** I was not planning on uploading this yet, but I feel the need to go ahead and post it up for those who loved channeld's stories. She was a fantastic writer and someone encouraging to me at NFA. I feel so bad I never got this story finished and done to enter into her challenge but it turned into an "inspired by" story instead. Pam, thank you so much for your encouragement and I do believe you would end up enjoying this story.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter One - Waiting…

x-x

Hospitals. It was one thing he hated more than anything. Especially when his team members were already looking for Harper Dearing and he was stuck here, in the emergency room that was beginning to get filled with doctors and nurses running to and from various spots to treat injuries.

While his injury was not life threatening, the doctors were going to currently keep in the hospital for the next night or two. The glass had impaled pretty deep, not to mention the force of the explosion causing him and his doctor wanted to be cautious, just in case.

Luckily, he was now lying in his room that was currently quite for the most part. To his shock when he arrived, he was actually sharing the room with another person.

The young woman, probably only two or three years younger than him, was quite a shock for him to learn.  
Timothy McGee could say he thought he knew most of his co-workers at the Navy Yard before it got bombed (rather, NCIS got bombed). However, he was rather shocked to learn a fellow woman in the legal department had wound up here next to him.

In fact, before today, Tim could honestly say he had never really seen her around much before. It made him feel a bit guilty to know that he did smile more often to his co-workers. The woman, had apparently according to the doctor, been also knocked unconscious from the explosion.

McGee, while he had not had any visitors yet – due to good reason about the bombing and his co-workers' safety, his phone had been going off like crazy since he got here (especially from Tony, of all people). Who would have thought Tony DiNozzo would scream into the phone, "Probie! Gibbs will hand cuff you if you do not comply with " If Tim had not seen Tony and Ziva getting checked out by EMTs, he could have rushed Tony to one as soon as possible.

Ziva...he did not even want to think about that right now.

The lady, however, from what he had overheard, had not been contacted yet. He sort of felt pity for her and then brushed the thoughts away as sleepiness loomed over his mind.

A glance out the window showed that that it was late afternoon and Tim, for all he could handle, did not want to try to sleep. He wanted to just go home and pray, for all it was worth, his team found Dearing before anyone else died.

Sighing, he decided to turn in the television and attempt to watch something to distract his mind. He did not want to focus on these thoughts right now.

Not when the lady next to reminded him of his co-workers...

x-x

"Agent McGee, no matter how much you insist, the doctor will not you get released early. While the cut was only minor, there could be a chance you could start bleeding again, not to mention your ribs," the nurse sighed. She had been discussing this for over the past ten minutes, yet the young man did not seem to understand.

It was not only the doctor but orders from a rather blunt and rude, older man – if she could describe the man in nice terms – in simple terms: "If he leaves without permission from the doctor, hand cuff him to the bed and give him a sedative."

To say Agent Gibbs had not been serious was an understatement. She almost felt she could feel her life was endanger if she did not comply with Agent McGee's boss.

"Come on, you can't tell me that no one else doesn't need this bed?" He insisted, trying to be a bit more persuasive.

She sighed, "What is it about you NCIS workers?"

Tim was a bit startled, "What do you mean?"

He stared at his nurse, as the woman moved the blinds separating the other guest in the room, who was still unconscious.

The nurse sighed as she walked over to the woman and readjusted the woman's pillow, "This woman seemed to be protesting the same thing when she came in here. But now, look at her. We had to sedate her from further injury."

Tim finally stared at the young woman properly. Physically, the woman next to him seemed fine except a rather large bruise on her forehead. However, being a trained agent he also knew there was a high possibility of internal injuries to the woman as well.

"What happened to her?" He asked.

The nurse frowned, "Agent McGee, you know I cannot give you that information."

Tim sighed deeply and looked out the window, "Another victim then…"

"I'm sorry?"

He shrugged and glanced at the nurse, "It's nothing really. I just do not want to know how many peoples' lives were ruined by the bombing today…" Really, the thought of knowing seemed to make his side ache in pain.

How strange. He almost thought it would be his heart that would be hurting right now in remembrance of the bombing.

The nurse looked at the young man and sighed, "Agent McGee, when the young woman came in, she could not hear half of what questions we asked. We had to have our male physician assistant talk to her loud where it did not bother her hearing. Our concern, from that explosion, she sustained permanent hearing loss along with a few broken ribs and a possible head concussion."

"Permanent hearing loss? I knew the explosion was loud but wouldn't there be more people seeing an audiologist for it?"

The nurse gave a small smile, "Not necessarily, Agent McGee. While many may suffer from short term problems from the explosions, others…are not so lucky."

"So, you are reminding me to let myself heal because others may not be returning to their jobs because of their injuries."

"Yes, Agent McGee." With that, the nurse walked out leaving Tim to sort out his thoughts.

Not to be able to turn to work because of hearing loss? Life could be so unfair to some people…

Yet, as he thought about the young woman, he remembered he had not yet heard a word about Ziva yet. Was she alright?


End file.
